Why: 7 intensive days within a summer school against corruption being part of an important NGO “Transparency International”. The era when my parents had to kick my ass to pull my own self to go to primary school, secondary school and high school is over (and I’m pretty happy about that for them :p). Now, I pay to go to school. Ohoh, time changes. When applying to this school, I did not expect being accepted, so as usual, its a last minute getting ready for this nerdy week and it is a big mess.

Inhabitants: three millions for the whole country and only 530 216 for Vilnius. On the other hand, to the East border of the country to the West one, it is only 300 Kms. And I thought Denmark is a small country….

Currency: what a shame to ask “are you using euros?” the first time I pull out my coins. It ends up not being that a dummy question as,even being part of the EU since 2005, it joined the Euro zone only 6 months ago.

History: an alliance with Poland in 1386 led to two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795 when its remnants were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its independence following World War I but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 – an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU the spring of 2004.

Feedback: its pretty amazing to land somewhere without knowing anything and so without expecting anything (just few cliches in mind). Its probably the best way not to be disappointed. And what a surprise to discover Vilnius city: really beautiful, fancy, a bit rich and Bourgeois-Boheme. But what a contrast compare to the closed surroundings… An infinite loneliness. It is obvious that some efforts have been made to have a nice city center, but very small, whereas all the neighborhoods are completely neglected. It is a pretty pathetic conclusion, but I had been chocked by the loneliness and sadness on people’s faces.

Bonus: Vilnius, a city which swings. We randomly end up the night of the social dancing, just the time to dance two, three songs, as a little warm up :p.